Original Yonezawa (Japan) 10in tin windup Diamond Planet Robot, rare variation with blue body and red arms, 100% original, with high-quality repro box. Sold within estimate for $33,210. Courtesy Milestone Auctions
WILLOUGHBY, Ohio – Nearly 880 lots of high-quality antique and vintage toys crossed the auction block at Milestone’s December 10 Winter Toy Extravaganza, chalking up $750,000 and making many collectors’ Christmas dreams come true.
Encased Star Wars (1978) 3.75in Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi 12 Back-A double-telescoping lightsaber action figure with SKU on footer denoted earlier production, AFA 75 Ex+/NM. Extremely rare and only the third carded specimen of its type ever to be offered by Hake’s. Estimate $100,000-$200,000. Image courtesy of Hake’s Auctions
YORK, Pa. – The quest for early Star Wars collectibles has reached a fevered pitch, but the auction market tells us the journey is just beginning. Interest in Star Wars items is stronger than ever, especially for prototypes and samples, rare variations, and toys produced in low numbers or no numbers at all. To some, it may seem that Hake’s – the auction house holding numerous world records for Star Wars material – has already sold the ultimate rarities from that wildly popular category. But exciting surprises continue to emerge, some from unexpected sources, and those fresh consignments and new discoveries will be front and center at Hake’s November 15-16 pop culture auction. View the fully illustrated catalog on LiveAuctioneers.
A Gae Aulenti prototype Saint Moritz table for Pierluigi Ghiandi, which never went into production, brought €9,000 (about $9,195) plus the buyer’s premium in November 2019. Image courtesy of Viscontea Casa d’Aste srl and LiveAuctioneers.
NEW YORK — Like the notable 20th-century architects Frank Lloyd Wright and Eero Saarinen, who designed furnishings to complement their buildings, Italian architect Gae Aulenti (1927-2012) excelled at translating architectural principles into decor. As one of a handful of women in the postwar Italian modern movement, she stood out from the crowd. Her keen design acumen led her to design striking pieces of furniture and lighting that embodied the Mid-century Modern aesthetic.
Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype action figure, predecessor to the Boba Fett figure in Kenner’s popular 1979 Star Wars toy line, 3.75in tall, AFA-graded 80+ NM (archival case). Encapsulated with notarized CIB COA. Sold for a world-record price of $236,000 against an estimate of $100,000-$200,000
YORK, Pa. – The enduring, multigenerational appeal of Star Wars action figures and related collectibles was never more obvious than on June 2nd, when Hake’s first-ever Special Event Auction featuring memorabilia from the legendary franchise closed the books at $903,000. The online auction, whose final bid was received at 11:14 p.m., achieved a 100% sell-through rate and set multiple new world records in so doing. In Hake’s last two auctions, 500 lots of Star Wars material have sold for a combined $2.1 million.
Boba Fett L-slot rocket-firing prototype action figure, predecessor to the Boba Fett figure in Kenner’s popular 1979 Star Wars toy line, 3.75in tall, AFA-graded 80+ NM (archival case). Encapsulated with notarized CIB COA. Estimate $100,000-$200,000
YORK, Pa. – In the investment-obsessed world of fine art, scarcely a week goes by without some new auction record being set, either for a particular artist or art genre. Hake’s Auctions, the groundbreaking Pennsylvania company that has specialized in pop culture memorabilia since 1967, also rewrites the record books with regularity, but not with Picassos or Van Goghs. It has become known as “The House of Star Wars” because of its consistent ability to achieve world-record prices for prototypes and other rarities from the fabled sci-fi film franchise. With collector demand at an all-time high, Hake’s has responded to the call by adding something new to its roster: an online auction dedicated exclusively to Star Wars memorabilia. The debut “Special Event” has opened for bidding and will run through June 2nd.
Kenner 1979 Star Wars Boba Fett rocket-firing prototype action figure, J-slot, version 2, bears copyright stamps, AFA-graded 50 VG. Archivally encapsulated with Collectible Investment Brokerage (CIB) COA. Sold for $204,435, a world auction record for any Star Wars action figure
YORK, Pa. – Record-setting prices just kept on coming at Hake’s $3.2 million online auction of pop culture rarities and didn’t stop until the last-minute clash of the titans that determined ownership of the sale’s top lot: a Star Wars Boba Fett “J-slot” rocket-firing prototype action figure. Conceived by Kenner in 1979, the J-slot Boba Fett Version 2 was designed with a J-shape triggering mechanism on its back for firing off rockets, but the toy never made it to the production stage due to safety concerns. On that basis alone, the pre-production archetypes became immediate rarities, but more than four decades of Star Wars mania have catapulted the J-slot prototype to an extraterrestrial level of desirability. The coveted example offered by Hake’s ignited a bidding war that ended at a sky-high $204,435 – a new auction record for any Star Wars action figure.
Original prototype of an Atari Home Pong video game system, $270,910
BOSTON – An original prototype of an Atari Home Pong video game system sold for $270,910 on March 17 at RR Auction. It originally came from the collection of Allan Alcorn, who revolutionized the video game industry in the 1970s as the creator of Pong, the first popular video arcade game.
1979 Star Wars Boba Fett rocket-firing prototype action figure, J-slot, version 2, bears copyright stamps, AFA-graded 50 VG. Archivally encapsulated with Collectible Investment Brokerage (CIB) COA. Extremely rare and sought after. Sold for above-estimate price of $204,435, inclusive of buyer’s premium.
YORK, Pa. – Last night Hake’s in York, Pennsylvania, set a new world auction record with the sale of a Kenner Star Wars Boba Fett rocket-firing prototype action figure. The Version 2 J-slot prototype, made in in 1979, attracted 27 bids before closing at $204,435. It was won by an online bidder in California.
1979 Star Wars Boba Fett rocket-firing prototype action figure, J-slot, version 2, bears copyright stamps, AFA-graded 50 VG. Archivally encapsulated with Collectible Investment Brokerage (CIB) COA. Extremely rare and sought after. Estimate $100,000-$200,000
YORK, Pa. – In the Star Wars universe, few characters are as fascinating to fans as the cool and enigmatic bounty hunter Boba Fett. Helmeted and garbed in Mandalorian armor, the noncommunicative Boba appears in both the original and prequel Star Wars trilogies. In the 2002 prequel Attack of the Clones, it is revealed that Boba is the genetic clone and adoptive son of Jango Fett, another famously feared bounty hunter. This exciting disclosure only added to the burgeoning Boba Fett mystique.
James M Cox/Franklin D Roosevelt jugate button, 1.25in size, one of only six known in 1.25-inch size and one of only three known in this design; the first of its type to reach the marketplace in 40 years. Considered the ultimate political button, on par with a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card or ‘Action Comics’ #1. Estimate $100,000-$200,000
YORK, Pa. – Pop culture fans reacted with stunned disbelief, then excitement, last November when Hake’s sold a Captain American “hero-prop” shield used by Chris Evans in the 2019 film Avengers: Endgame. The pristine star-emblazoned shield commanded $259,540, the highest price ever paid at auction for a Marvel movie prop and the top price recorded in any sale of Hake’s record-setting $10 million year. However, America’s oldest collectibles auction house is not one to rest on its laurels, as the jaw-dropping lineup just announced for their March 15-16 auction clearly shows.